Turnip Rock, Port Austin, Michigan

Turnip Rock and Kai standing on the "thumbnail" in
Michigan's thumb area. Unfortunately, this area is privately owned so
Kai and I skied to it from the harbor at Port Austin (about 2.25 miles
away) on Lake Huron. We then skied out to the Port Austin Lighthouse
which sits out in the middle of the bay on a shallow shoal (about 2.5
miles from the shores of Port Austin). We saw all sorts of
interesting ice formations along the way and had a great time on a
cold and blustery day. More photos here:www-personal.umich.edu/~jensenl/visuals/album/2009/thumb/

Standing on the thumbnail is a very risky job! Most of the times it is very windy there. It's very easy to loose balance and fly over the edge onto rocks(ouch) and into bumpy, rocky, Lake Huron. Not a good idea.

Not hard to get on top, there's a spot where the cliffs have collapsed and you can just climb up the rocks. I never worried about being blown off by wind but it is a little unnerving since it could come crashing down at any time (at least you imagine it could).

And if you mean on top of Turnip Rock, I have no idea, it is inverted on all sides and the rock is a bit crumbly (the bottom is actually reinforced with concrete or it probably would have fallen into the lake by now). Also, it's probably only about 20 feet tall.

No, you really can't climb on turnip rock.....glad people can't . Better that it's kept pristine and not damaged. The community there, where the rock formation is located, is "gated and private". Also the area is a National Lakeshore. This helps to protect this beautiful formation( besides the cemented base). There is another formation near Magraw Park, that used to look like Turnip. Over the years it fell from wave action etc. It's name is Loosemore Rock. It still looks interesting but people have graffitied all over it.

How was this area allowed to be privately owned ? Thanks to our government for letting this become private ! As a lifelong Michigander , this upsets me and it is wrong for ANYONE to withhold a natural wonder for themselves . Hopefully as one of these locals leave this earth , they will also leave their property to the state as an access point.